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Champions/Short 6
Esterne The sound of the zeppelin’s steam engine roared, as it flew closer to the Void Scar. The Northen Ridge was within sight, dark purple shadows covering the rocky passage. High Tinker Esterne was standing next to Rutmar at the rudder. The zeppelin was one of Rutmar’s inventions, and quickly became one of the most widely used forms of transportation for goblins all around the world. Esterne and Rutmar had planned a huge attack on the Void Portal, having packed the zeppelin with goblin tinkerers and warriors. A single human and ghoul were also on the airship, having joined as emmisaries of the Forces of Justice and the Stitchers. Esterne had originally suggested using his goblin cartel as a neutral leader to combat the Void, but nobody liked that idea for some reason. That wasn’t enough to stop Esterne and the other goblins of Telakk-une in combating the Void. To access the Void Portal, they had to fly over the Northern Ridge. This was still a very dangerous area, but Esterne was confident in Rutmar’s skills as captain. A shadow leapt into the air in front of the airship, startling a few goblin workers. A few archers shot arrows at the creature, but they just flew through it. “We’re above the ridge now.” A raspy voice said behind them. Esterne and Rutmar turned, watching as the ghoul approached them. The human was a few paces behind the undead. “We should be ready to attack.” The ghoul continued. Marth Lance was the name of the undead man, a former farmer from Hasteworn. Marth had told his lifestory when he first entered the airship, but Esterne didn’t care about any of that. The human was a quiet girl, Esther Wock. Again, she was of little interest to Esterne. “We know what we’re doing.” Esterne assured the ghoul and turned his focus on the shadow creatures starting to surround them. “Rutmar, start the MechanoShield 9000.” Rutmar grinned and pulled out a remote with a single red button. He pressed it. A transparent blue shield popped up, covering the airship. A shadow creature flew into it, but couldn’t pass. “See!” Esterne said, excited that his invention was working. “We’re completely safe here.” He patted Rutmar on the shoulder. “I’ll go prepare the troops. Let’s send these shadows back to where they came from.” Rutmar, as the leader of the goblin town of Bronzewhirr, was used to being in charge and having many people depend on him, so flying a zeppelin with around a thousand goblins didn’t put too much pressure on him. And if it did, he was hiding it nicely. Esterne was definitly comfortable in leaving him alone by the rudder. The ghoul, Marth, stayed with Rutmar as Esterne went below decks. The human girl followed him. “You made a mistake in letting the ghoul on board.” She said silently, following behind Esterne. “He’s dangerous.” “Ah, funny, he says the same about you.” Esterne had had this discussion many times, and was sick of it. “Who do I trust? Maybe neither?” He gave Esther a quick glance. “Maybe I’ll throw you overboard. Huh?” The girl went silent, glaring at the goblin. “Don’t attack him, he won’t attack you. It’s a simple deal.” Esterne said, as they arrived at the living quarters. Goblins were sitting by tables all around the room, loudly drinking and gambling. A few were laying on the ground, sleeping before the battle. Esterne raised a hand to Esther, telling her to stay. The human wasn’t happy about obeying a goblin, but did as he asked. Alone, Esterne entered a big metal door, entering the main office of the ship. Inside, Greasefist, the leader of the Iron Mine Arena was standing, looking out a murder-hole in the wall. “That shield won’t hold for long.” Greasefist muttered without looking at Esterne. “It’ll hold.” Esterne went over to the table in the middle of the room. It was full of papers, machines and tools. He pushed some of the tools aside, revealing a map of the canyon below. “You’re too optimistic, boss.” Greasefist turned around, and went over to his leader. “I don’t think we-“ Before he could finish his sentence, a big hole appeared in the wall where he had just been. Both goblins turned, seeing the shield broken and shadow creatures flying into the airship from the newly formed hole in the hull. “I don’t want to say ‘told you so’, but…” Greasefist said, as he grabbed Esterne by the collar and ran into the living quarters. “We’re under attack! Prepare a counter-attack!” Esterne saw the goblins scrambling to their feet, grabbing their weapons. The zeppelin was shaking violently, as the void was attacking it repeatedly. Esther, the human, was tending to a wounded goblin. Esterne locked eyes with her, seeing the despair and fear in her eyes. He was quite calm himself. Surprisingly calm. Esterne looked at Greasefist, yelling orders to the goblins around them. “Get them ready.” Esterne told Greasefist, before he ran towards the human, bringing her with him upstairs to the rudder. On the deck, shadow creatures were all around them. The ghoul was laying on the floor next to the rudder, where Rutmar was fighting to keep the zeppelin under control. When he saw Esterne and Esther come running, he yelled “What do we do?!!” Esterne looked around. The ground below was full of rocky outcrops and cliffs. There was nowhere to land safely. He took a deep breath. He began feeling the fear now. Next to him. Esther was helping the ghoul to his feet. They exchanged a few words, but Esterne didn’t hear any of it. “Land.” Esterne finally said. “That’s suicide.” Rutmar argued. “It’s suicide to not land.” “Everyone below us will die!” Esterne had already realized that. If they landed here, the hull below would be crushed. Maybe they could turn back and reach a flatter area… His thoughts were interrupted, as a goblin worker on the deck was swarmed by void creatures and swiftly turned to purple dust. No corpse. Nothing. Just dust. That settled it. “We have to try.” Esterne said. “Land.” Rutmar hesittated. “LAND!” Esterne yelled, grabbing the railing next to him. “NOW!” Esterne woke up to fire, screaming and shadow creatures attacking the survivors of the wreckage. He was laying on his stomach, and felt a pounding headache. He could barely think. Next to him, Rutmar was laying, gasping for air. He was awake, nodding slowly to Esterne. He was alright. The ghoul and human were already on their feet, running over to help Esterne and Rutmar. “We have to get out of here.” The ghoul, Marth, said, helping Esterne to get on his feet. Esterne nodded, and looked around. They were by the Northern Ridge. They would never make their way past it. Their best chance was to run through the canyon to Voidshore. “Let’s go.” Esterne said, and ran forward with Rutmar, the ghoul and the human. He stopped after a few seconds though. He saw the corpse of Greasefist laying on the ground, his head seperated from his body. He hadn’t survived the crash. “Nothing we can do for him now.” Rutmar said, grabbing Esterne’s arm. “Run!” Esterne looked back at the wreck. Over a thousand goblins had died in the crash. And it was all his fault. He would avenge them. All of them. Category:Champions